Shaun of the Dead
Night of the living frustrating characters

// The skinny: Zombies roam the earth and all Shaun wants to do is get his friends and family to the safety of his favorite pub.

// Review: This was a low budget indie type film that surprised a lot of people. It was original since there hasn't been a zombie/comedy film made before; and horror movies never take place during the day. For what is was it ended up with critical acclaim. It took me a while to get around to this one and my expectations were colored by all of the press, so of course I was a bit disappointed.

/ I thought it was clever that the movie began with the joke that humans are indistinguishable from zombies as we go through our rote and mundane routines. When Shaun and Ed first begin to realize that Zombies are walking around and encounter their first few are probably the funniest moments of the film. After that I found it was only funny in a quick dialogue with esoteric British colloquialisms BBC sort of way.

/ I found the romantic sub-plot to be very bland and uncompelling. The biggest annoyance which clouded my overall feeling towards this movie were a couple of frustrating characters. One of them just bitches and moans the entire time and does nothing to help the situation. The other is Shaun's best friend who starts off as a loser, and progressively creates more and more problems for everyone. The love interest could be played by anyone, leaving Shaun as the only really interesting character. He's not very smart and his great idea to rescue his ex-girlfriend from to the safety of an upper level flat with secured entrance to expose themselves by making a break for a pub was preposterous. But Shaun was still fiercely loyal to his friends and mom and was courageous when he needed to be.

// Wrap up: This is an amusing film that puts a lighter spin on this current rage of scary movies. If you don't mind characters who behave irritatingly or plots that aren't logical, you could find this an entertaining rental.

Entertainment rating: 3